Dreaded halal watchdog site vanished from cyberspace: Have regulators ordered a shutdown?

 

THE many non-Muslim (NM) food & beverage (F&B) establishments with Malay Muslim patronage which in the past has been subject to ‘crude’ scrutiny by the Halal inquiry Company direktori [sic] may have every reason to feel vindicated or even rejoice with the above headline.

If indeed the above revelation s true, then every F&B player owes it to the “Mee Pok” saga which stemmed from persistency of the anonymous Segamat-based Nan Yang Coffee Shop proprietor for his counter-attack against the self-appointed watchdog for ruining the reputation of a 95-year-old kopitiam.

Credit goes to the Meanwhile in Malaysia (MIM) page for being among the first to notice the holier than thou watchdog’s disappearance from cyberspace through its striking one-liner – “Hey did that page got taken down or did we kena blocked”.

The MIM administrator nevertheless went on to acknowledge that the halal inquirer “was a good page not only for Muslims but non-Muslim Malaysians as well” before sharing a post by fair-minded Muslim influencer Joe Najib who ranted about over-tendency of the self-appointed watchdog playing the racist card.

This was accompanied by a top comment from one Irene Cho who claimed to have followed “this page (halal inquirer) because I want to know which restaurant is good to bring Muslim my friends”.

A revival underway?

“It’s informative. After a while the tone become like saja very anti-Chinese or the vibe that is ‘As long as you aren’t Malay, you are my enemy’. So I dah block that page. Don’t want to waste my emotions on id*ots like this.”

Interestingly, even the personal social media accounts of the halal inquirer’s creator – culinary influencer Ameen Sukor a.k.a Abang Ameen Sukor – that range from FB to Instagram and TikTok have been disabled.

However, one netizen revealed that the administrator is not giving up fully as he is on tje verge of updating old data to possibly roll out a new directory in which her intends “to block haters”.

Like it or not, the Joe Najib FB post was very critical of the biasness of the watchdog on three grounds:

• If the shop is not owned by Malay Muslim and don’t possess a halal certificate, don’t visit.
• If the shop is owned by Malay Muslim but don’t possess a halal certificate, according to him, “support 100%.”.
• If the shop is not owned by Malay Muslim but possess a valid halal certificate from JAKIM, then “it’s up to owner of the throat”.

Added the PowerPoint and presentation specialist:

At one stage in the past, he was hot on the heels of Dolly Dim Sum because they didn’t possess a halal certificate.

But when they were recognised as halal by JAKIM, how nice it would be to broadcast that so Muslims can enjoy the food without doubts. But not a sound. Because the owners are still not Malays.

The one thing that strengthens my doubts is a screenshot of one of the comments by the page’s admin. You be the judge. This is not a comment that should be emulated, full stop (“If Type C, doesn’t matter who. Their attitude is the same. This tribe bears same behaviour traits”).

The second. His page asks for donations via QR. According to him, that is to buy SSM (Companies Commission of Malaysia) searches. As far as I know, the cost to buy an SSM report is RM10.

The most expensive is probably RM30 for a Certified True Copy (CTC). So is the money received used entirely for the purchase of the SSM report?

Or is it also used to cover the admin’s salary, transport costs, fuel + tolls to visit the shops he revealed? The reason I ask is, if the donation is direct to an individual, I don’t think there is a problem.

But when channelled to a company like this page does, it’s wrong from a legal perspective. To receive donations for a company, you’ve to register with ROS (Registrar of Societies) according to the Societies Act 1966. If through SSM, the company needs to register as a CLBG (Company Limited by Guarantee).

His company doesn’t fulfill both conditions.

Above all else, the biggest joke could be that even his so-called F&B  business, Abang Ameen Cuisine, does not possess a valid halal certification from JAKIM yet he dares to chastise non-Muslim food operators without one just because the latter enjoy Muslim patronage.

A sheer case of jealousy perhaps? 

- Focus Malaysia